I Will Not Live as a Genius

13. Forty One

David McLean (David McLean).

Past Life As the head of the Department of Mathematics at Texas State University, he played a leading role in disqualifying me from the reappointment of a professor.

It was probably 4 years ago.

I was reading the papers in Professor Park Bo-soo’s lab, and I found David’s published papers very unpleasant.

The reason I was offended at that time was… It wasn’t just because of the bad relationship between me and David.

Because as soon as I saw David’s thesis, a student named Mike Schultz immediately came to mind.

Anyway, the title of David McLean’s paper I saw 4 years ago is:

‘McLean theorem on W-function expansion.’

This thesis was David’s thesis on which he presented his master’s degree work, and he further develops his McLean theorem during his Ph.D.

This McLean theorem attracted the attention of many scholars in the field of differential topology. As a result, David was hired as an assistant professor at the University of Texas at the same time as his doctorate degree.

If I remember correctly, his appointment will be at the end of this year.

Past Life When I was first recruited to Texas State University, David had already received tenure and wanted a career in administration rather than research.

In other words, he chose the path of becoming a professor of administration after going through the department of mathematics and the dean of the College of Science and finally becoming the president of the university.

At first David was very friendly with me, who introduced me to Mike Schultz, his PhD graduate student, who made me Mike’s co-advisor.

I knew that Mike’s PhD subject was far from my field of study, so I wouldn’t be of much help.

However, since it was counted as a student guidance performance, I had no reason to give up.

Mike Schultz was a typical, naive, good-natured student from Central America.

I am not religious now, and I did not believe in God at the time, but it is true that I became interested in the American Evangelical Church for a while through Mike.

As such, Mike was a student with a warm heart.

Well… I mean, this is what I say, but when it comes to age… Actually Mike was four years older than me.

He was very kind to me as a child, and he was always Dr. I used the name Chae.

At that time, all of my graduate students were older than me.

So I told my students to call me Jeong-ho with ease, and there were quite a few students who actually called it that way.

Of course, I was just calling my name comfortably, of course, there were no students who behaved recklessly toward me as my advisor.

The reason why the advisor is holding the lifeline of graduate students is because if America had more than Korea, it would be better, but not less.

The case in which a doctoral graduate student at an Ivy League University in the United States murdered his advisor after his 18th year graduation was delayed because he had lost sight of his advisor is very famous.

For reference, in the trial in this case, the lawyer of the graduate student claimed that his actions were in self-defense.

Then one day.

Mike Schultz asked me to interview.

It was a request for an interview saying that there was a difficult part related to the research and he wanted to hear my advice.

There is something called a qualifying test in the graduate school doctoral program.

It is a test taken one year after starting a doctoral degree. If you enter the Qual exam and ask a question or two, you will get an estimate in a slang word.

It gives you a rough idea of how smart a student is and whether they will be able to successfully complete their Ph.D.

Mike was definitely one of the top five math students I took the Qual Exam.

It’s true that Mike’s request for an interview was a little odd to me, as I was a student I thought would graduate without any major problems.

Throughout the interview, Mike’s passion for mathematics was evident.

I felt ashamed of myself.

Graduate students in their 4th year of doctoral program are working hard like this, but as an assistant professor, I wondered if I had already fallen into mannerism.

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No, when I was a PhD student, was half Mike ever crazy about math?

That interview with Mike made me think a lot.

The subject of Mike’s doctoral research was to continue to develop his supervisor David’s McLean theorem, which Mike invited me to interview because a significant error was found in McLean’s theorem.

At first, I thought Mike had made a mistake while studying or misunderstood something.

The McLean theorem has been used without problems for nearly a decade.

If there was an error, it would have been discovered sooner.

As if he had already anticipated my negative comments, Mike handed me a copy of his research notes he had prepared.

I sent Mike back and started checking the notes Mike left behind… .

Unbelievable… !

Mike was right.

There was clearly a contradiction in the process of extending McLean’s theorem from three-dimensional to four-dimensional space.

When I met Mike again a week later, I told him.

Talk directly to your advisor, David… .

I know David well, and he is someone who will openly admit errors in his theories if they are found.

This would certainly be a major blemish on David’s research career.

If he concentrates on research in the future.

However, since David had already decided on a career path in university administration, a mistake of this magnitude could not be a serious weakness for him.

Another week passes… When I met Mike in the hallway, Mike said he had talked to David about the matter on my advice.

And now David said he was treating himself like a stranger.

Until then, I thought David was a really nice guy.

So I tapped Mike on the shoulder and said.

It’s because you’re feeling so sensitive right now… .

David was never the one to be… .

David is very busy these days, so we’ll talk again next week.

A week later, rumors circulated that Mike Schultz had committed suicide.

In his will, it is said that he became unable to do mathematics, and it was written that life without mathematics was unimaginable.

* * *

I handed out the three papers I copied from the library to my sister-in-law.

The older sister who checked the thesis said.

“McLean theorem? Was this what the professor said in topology class?”

“okay? What did you say?”

“The professor met this student named McLean at an American conference in person, and he said he was really smart. This is the deal the student first announced during his master’s degree. You said that sooner or later there will be a theorem that applies to multi-dimensionality… .”

I pointed to the thesis I handed to my sister.

“That’s the paper at the bottom there.”

“ah… ! okay? By the way, did you copy these papers for me?”

I nodded, and my sister patted my head and said.

“Also! This older sister is only Jung-ho. My sister was trying to study properly here this summer, but I guess we can telepathically communicate with each other!”

The older sister looked at the third paper and said with a long sigh.

“under—. But I’m really envious. I heard that the person who wrote this thesis is still a graduate student… If I had written a thesis like this once, I wouldn’t have won.”

“My sister will write a much better thesis than that.”

My sister smiled at my words.

“haha! Our Jeong-ho now knows how to make a father. I know it’s empty, but it feels good.”

But he said he would write a better thesis… .

It’s not empty words… .

Three days later, on a Sunday morning.

My father went fishing last night and said he would come back late this afternoon.

I asked my mother, and I invited the major sister to my house and we had lunch together.

After lunch, I asked my sister.

“Sister, have you seen those McLean theorems?”

The older sister grinned and took the thesis out of her bag.

“I knew you were going to ask, so I brought you this! haha! I’ve been reading it over and over, and I think it’s fine. The first and second papers followed quickly… The third paper that came out recently was a bit difficult.”

“It’s not that it’s difficult, and there are parts that I skipped over so it feels difficult.”

“okay? Have you read the third paper too?”

I haven’t read it, but Mike Schultz’s notes are still in my mind.

“I read it. Is it possible that the part that noona finds difficult is the transition from 3D to 4D or higher?”

“uh… ! right! You knew!”

Fortunately, the major sister seemed to meticulously check the development of formulas in the thesis.

My sister continued talking.

“It makes sense if you think intuitively as the thesis explains… But I was a little apprehensive about just going through it. Is not it?”

“Noona, there’s that part that’s embarrassing. Would you like to study that part properly with me?”

Ever since I first helped my sister with her homework on the subway four years ago, she would often ask me for advice if she had a difficult problem.

My sister’s eyes began to shine at my question.

“Oh oh! If Jung-ho helps, of course I am grateful.”

I opened the thesis and pointed to the formula.

“Isn’t this the part that goes from equation 17 to number 21?”

My sister nodded her head knowingly, and I continued speaking.

“Equation 21 is a generalized expression of McLean’s theorem in more than four dimensions.

I wrote the formula in the blank space of the paper.

“If we convert this rewritten expression into an equation, we can find a special solution to this equation… There will be a total of four cases.”

My sister said with a slightly suspicious look.

“It… How do you know? Did you derive the formula yourself?”

“It’s just a feeling.”

The feeling is… I know because Mike Schultz tried it and told me about it.

My sister nodded and said.

“Oh oh… ! Also… ! What the hermeneutics professor once said was true. He said that there are people who do math with feelings like you.”

A person who does math by feeling.

This isn’t wrong, I’m not that type of mathematician.

I smiled at my sister and opened my mouth.

“If we substitute the special solution obtained in that way into the original Equation 21, maybe we can figure out what the error is.”

“… … .”

My sister looked at me with a questioning expression, and I opened the last page of the thesis while ignoring her gaze.

“Sister, please check paper 34 among the references here.”

Seeing the title of the 34th paper, the older sister shook her head with a determined expression.

“I checked the paper 34 times, is that a paper that has nothing to do with McLean theorem?”

What the major sister said is correct.

But I shook my head and said.

“No, it doesn’t matter.”

My sister said with a firm expression.

“No! The thesis itself is a different field. The McLean theorem is differential topology, and this paper is on algebra.”

I shook my head again and said.

“Then, would you like to bet with me?”

“What? betting?”

“Yes, if I’m right, let me speak nonsense to my sister. Instead, if I’m wrong, my sister buys me bulgogi. OK?”

“What? what?”

My sister put honey chestnuts in my head.

“What? Black again? Where in the world is such a stupid bet?”

Monday evening the next day.

I was studying English with my mother in the living room.

My mother’s ability to learn is really good.

In addition to the ability to learn, my mother had a strong desire to learn.

Although the English book borrowed from Korea University was mainly conversational, it was quite thick, over 400 pages, as it included English grammar.

It’s a lie, but… It took my mother less than four days to memorize the entire book.

How did the person who wanted to study like this endured all this time?

So while I was studying English with my mother, the doorbell rang.

When my mother went to the front door and opened it, the major sister shouted in excitement.

“Hey Jeongho! I found it! Found an error!”

Then my father, who was resting in the bedroom, came out.

“Who is looking for Jung-ho?”

The major’s older sister and mother standing in front of the front door, and me sitting on the sofa in the living room… .

In this way, the three of us looked at our father with ice.